1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to the field of thermal management and in particular to the field of thermal management in electronic devices of high density integrated circuit substrates. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to the field of heat sink devices which are automatically engaged upon the electrical coupling of an integrated circuit substrate into an electronic device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Due to the fact that excessive temperatures have a well documented adverse effect on electronic components, thermal management within electronic devices has been well known in the prior art. In the early days of electronic devices, excess thermal buildup was generally handled by providing an electrically powered ventilation fan to pull ambient air into a chassis which contained heat generating components. Additionally, known passive thermal management techniques often included a simple mechanical cooling fins which were constructed integrally with certain components or mounted in contact with those devices by means of thermally conductive adhesives.
While the advent of integrated circuit devices initially meant lower thermal buildup, due to the decreased power density of such devices, the increased packing density encountered in current state-of-the-art devices has resulted in a thermal problem due to the high power densities which result from moving the integrated circuit devices closer and closer together.
One known device for aiding in the transfer of heat from closely packaged integrated circuit devices is marketed by the 3M Company of Minneapolis, Minn. under the trademark "FLOURINERT LIQUID HEAT SINK." The thermally conductive fluid identified by the aforementioned trademark is packaged in compliant plastic bags which are then placed over a plurality of integrated circuit devices in a loosely mated manner to attempt to transfer heat from the integrated circuit devices into the thermally conductive fluid. However, this technique is not thoroughly effective in many circumstances due to the lack of thermal bonding between each integrated circuit device and the fluid within the compliant bag. Further, the thermal mismatch which occurs between such bags and integrated circuit devices can often result in stresses being generated in the integrated circuit device mountings due to the unequal thermal coefficients of expansion and contraction which may occur.
It should therefore be apparent that a need exists for an improved thermal management technique which permits the effective transfer of heat from integrated circuit devices to a heat sink while accommodating relative movement between the integrated circuit device and the heat sink which may be caused by a thermal mismatch.